You had us at Jason Katims. The man behind Friday Night Lights and Parenthood returns with the NBC TV series Rise, about high school teacher (Josh Radnor) who takes over his school’s struggling theatre department. I know what you’re thinking. I’m thinking it, too. Yes, it sounds an awful lot like Glee. But Friday Night Lights wasn’t really about football, and Rise won’t really be about high school musicals.

NBC TV Series Rise:

It also contains parallels to everything from “Lady Bird” to the retro Netflix comedy “Everything Sucks!,” in which a motley assortment of gawky teens make a sci-fi movie with a few dollars and a whole lot of determination.

Katims doesn’t do over-the-top camp. What he does do is make us cry and make us care. The show’s other producer is Jeffrey Seller, who helped bring a little musical called Hamilton to Broadway.

ABOUT RISE:

Inspired by a true story, a working-class community is awakened when its high school theater program takes on an unconventional new leader. As dedicated teacher and family man Lou Mazzuchelli takes over the lagging department, he encourages his students to unleash their creativity and explore new means of self-expression. But even though the students discover talents and ambitions they never knew they had, not everyone in town is thrilled. Upset by challenges brought by change, enraged faculty and skeptical parents contest Mr. Mazzu’s galvanizing efforts. But with passionate fervor running through the town’s veins, no one can deny a revolution is underway.

RISE : THE MUSIC

Rise is well on its way to capturing the hearts of countless fans, and much of that has to do with the NBC drama’s excellent renditions of songs we know and love. The songs range from Broadway hits to chart-toppers from artists like Macklemore, but all of them have one thing in common: they’re catchy as hell.

One of those ‘catchy’ songs is the track we placed on the NBC TV Series Rise soundtrack – ‘You Saw Something In Me‘ by our artists, Rudden + Bridge, prominently featured in episode 2 as a romance blooms and sparks fly between Robbie and Lilette as they rehearse.